Anderson County Election Commission is as prepared as it can be for today’s election, but Administrator Mark Stephens said he and his staff know to always be prepared for the unexpected.

All the machines have been delivered to the polling places, and all the poll workers were completing training by Monday’s end, Stephens said, but being flexible is part of the game.

“Something always happens,” he said.

Anderson County polls open at 9 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. for today’s election. In neighboring Roane County, polls open at 8 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

Although both Anderson and Roane counties had what many considered to be impressive numbers of citizens voting early, it was actually less than in the 2008 election — the last time the nation elected a president.

Stephens said the 18,322 people who cast ballots in Anderson County is about 800 fewer than in 2008. He said early voting started out strong, but then dropped a bit. He said factors such as the weather could have played a role.

Although early voters in Roane County cast 12,665 ballots, officials said an Election Commission official said its about 2,800 less than in 2008.

Stephens said he expects 70 percent of Anderson County’s 48,182 voters to cast votes — either today or through early voting.

“It seems to be a much more emotional election (than in 2008),” he said.

For more information or answers to questions, call the Anderson County Election Commission at (865) 457-6238 or Roane County Election Commission at (865) 376-3184. You can also find more information and sample ballots at the websites, www.acelect.com and www.roanelections.com.

Donna Smith can be contacted at (865) 220-5502. Beverly Majors contributed to this story.